Door latch



June 28, 1927.

w. o. FERRIS DOORLATCH Fi'led Jan. 28. 1926 lfiU TUW 8 Mam/,0 7%

Patented June 28, 1927.

UNITED s T s [PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM n. reams, or STERLING, ILLINOIS, 'nssIGnoR 'ro'rnAn'rz MANUFACTUR- ING 00., or STERLING, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

noon LATCH.

Application filed. J'anual'y 28, 1926. Serial No. 84,316.

This invention relates to door latches in general, more particularly to those that have a pivoted latch bar which is operable up and down by one and thesame hand by which the door is opened or closed, and in which said latch bar is arranged to engage a strike piece. to latch the door in closed position. Ordinarily, in a latch of this general type,

the pivoted latchbar is raised by a thumbpiece disposed immediately above the handle, which is grasped by the person opening or closing the door, said thumb piece being in position to be conveniently pressed down by the thumb of the hand on said handle.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved construction whereby said thumb piece may be dispensed with, and whereby the said handle is mounted for movement relative to the door, and is thereby operative to raise the latch by merely a push or pull on the handle,

depending upon whether the handle is on the inner or the outer side of the door, thus obviating the necessity of manipulating a thumb piece or other movable part by the thumb of the hand on the handle.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and com binatious tending to increase the general efliciency and the desirability of a doorlatch of this particular character.

To these and other useful ends, the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and claimed, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a door latch embodying the principles of the invention, showing adjacent portions of the door and door frame.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 22 in Fig. 1. I

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 33 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the slotted plate or keeper of said latch.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the strike piece of the latch mechanism.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a latch bar 1 pivoted at 2 on the bracket 3, which is secured, for example, to the inner side of the door 1, which latter is of any suitable character. The handle 5 is pivoted at its lower end at 6 upon the bracket 7 secured to the door, so that the door is opened inwardly by a pull on this handle. The out-side handle 8 is pivoted at its lower. end' at 9 on the bracket 10 secured to the door, and theupper ends of thetwo handles are connected together by acam'bar 11, which may be rigidly secured to the upper end of the handle 5, and which preferably has a loose connection at 12' with the upper end of the handle 8', whereby the two handles are movable back and forth in unison, about their pivots at their lower ends.

A spring 13 is interposed between the door and the handle 8, as shown,.to keep the two handles in normal position. The cam bar 11 operates in a hole 1 1 bored or cut in the door, and has its upper edge provided with a bevel 15 forming the cam for engaging the lower edge of the latch bar, 1, thereby to raise the latch bar when a pull is exerted on the handle 5, or when a push is exerted on the handle 8, assuming that Fig. 1 shows the inner side of the door, and that the door opens inwardly.

Plates 16 provided with slots for the bar 11 may be secured at opposite sides of the door, as shown, if desired, thus forming guides for the cam bar.

The slotted plate or keeper 17 has a slot 18 for the latch bar,and has holes 19 for the screws by which this plate is secured to the edge of the door, as shown. Also, this plate has a hole 20 for a padlock.

The strike piece consists of a plate 21 having a cam edge 22 for engaging and raising the latch bar, and having a notch 23 into which the latch bar falls to latch the door in closed position. This plate has holes 24 for the screws by which the plate is secured to the edge of the doorway, and has a hole 25 for the said padlock. hen the door is closed, the two, plates 17 and 21 are close together, and in parallel planes, and the holes 20 and 25'register, so that when the padlock is inserted through these holes the door is locked in closed position.

I When the padlock is taken oil, the door is then opened by a pull on the handle 5, and this automatically raises the latch bar 1 out of engagement with the strike piece 21, and unlatches the door. From the other side, a push on the handle 8 will automatically raise the latch piece and at the same time in Fig. 1 could be the outer side of an outwardly swinging door, and in such case the door could be latched and then locked from the outside. It will. be seen, therefore, that the invention is not limited to the exact construction shown and described, or to any particular way of using the latch.

Thus, as illustrated, the connection 11 extends through the upper portion 12 of the handle 8, loosely, and because this portion 11,

is rigid with the handle 5, it follows that the lifting means 15 will. have some movement up and down when the handle 5 is tilted by its axis 6 below.

WVithout disclaiminganything, and without prejudice to any novelty disclosed, what I claim as my invention is:

1. A latch mechanism comprising a latch bar, a strike piece for engaging said latch bar, to hold a door in closed position, a handle movably mounted on one side of the door, adapted for use in opening and closing the door, and engaging means rigid with said handle and thereby having movement in unison therewith to automatically lift the latch when the door is opened.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, in combination with another handle movably mounted on the other side of the door, and means rigid with said engaging means and extending through the door and through the upper end portion of this second handle to connect the two handles together, said first handle being operative by movement thereof away from the door to lift the latch bar, and said second handle being movable toward the door to lift said bar.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, and means including a spring on the other side of the door for holding said handle in normal position.

Specification signed this 22d day of January, 1926.

WILLIAM D. FERRIS. 

